[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 392 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 392

  Expressing the Sense of the Senate on the humanitarian catastrophe 
          caused by the January 12, 2010 earthquake in Haiti.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 21, 2010

Mr. Kerry (for himself, Mr. Lugar, Mr. Nelson of Florida, Mr. Dodd, Mr. 
Leahy, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Burris, Ms. Stabenow, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Bennet, 
  Ms. Mikulski, Mr. Dorgan, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Udall of New 
Mexico, Mr. Baucus, Mr. Brown, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Nelson of Nebraska, Mr. 
Harkin, Mr. Carper, Mr. Lautenberg, Mr. Kirk, Mr. Begich, Mr. Bayh, Mr. 
 Wyden, Ms. Klobuchar, Ms. Cantwell, Mrs. Feinstein, Mrs. Shaheen, Mr. 
Casey, Mr. Cardin, Ms. Landrieu, Mrs. Gillibrand, Mr. Kohl, Mr. Inouye, 
  Mr. Akaka, Mr. Feingold, Mr. Whitehouse, Mrs. Hagan, Mr. Reed, Mr. 
 Corker, Mr. Rockefeller, Mr. Barrasso, Mr. Isakson, Mr. Kaufman, and 
Mr. Reid) submitted the following resolution; which was considered and 
                               agreed to

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
  Expressing the Sense of the Senate on the humanitarian catastrophe 
          caused by the January 12, 2010 earthquake in Haiti.

Whereas, on January 12, 2010, an earthquake measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale 
        and its aftershocks devastated Port-au-Prince, Haiti and the surrounding 
        areas, killing potentially 100,000 people, injuring hundreds of 
        thousands more people, and leaving many hundreds of thousands of people 
        homeless;
Whereas Haiti, which is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, has an 
        estimated 54 percent of its population living on less than $1 per day, 
        120,000 people living with HIV, 29,333 new cases of Tuberculosis 
        reported in 2007, and nearly 400,000 children living in orphanages;
Whereas, despite the heroic efforts of the Haitian people and the support of the 
        international community, Haiti remains seriously weakened by prior 
        natural disasters, including an unprecedented string of devastating 
        tropical storms in 2008 that left almost 500 Haitians dead and affected 
        hundreds of thousands more people during an acute food crisis;
Whereas these disasters have grievously undermined Haiti's struggle to rebuild 
        its infrastructure and to restore critical services related to health, 
        education, poverty, and hunger to create effective governmental and 
        nongovernmental institutions;
Whereas Haiti has struggled for many years to overcome systemic threats to 
        public health and shortages of food, potable water, and cooking fuel, 
        significant environmental degradation, and political and economic 
        fragility;
Whereas, on January 13, 2010, President Obama stated, ``I have directed my 
        administration to respond with a swift, coordinated, and aggressive 
        effort to save lives. The people of Haiti will have the full support of 
        the United States in the urgent effort to rescue those trapped beneath 
        the rubble, and to deliver the humanitarian relief - the food, water, 
        and medicine - that Haitians will need in the coming days.'';
Whereas on January 13, 2010, Rajiv Shah, the Director of the United States 
        Agency for International Development stated that the United States 
        Government is ``working aggressively and in a highly coordinated way 
        across the Federal Government to bring all of the assets and capacities 
        we have to bear to quickly and effectively provide as much assistance as 
        possible.'';
Whereas, on January 14, 2010, President Obama pledged $100,000,000 in immediate 
        assistance to the people of Haiti, and dispatched the 82nd Airborne 
        Division, a Marine Expeditionary Unit, the USS Carl Vinson, the USS 
        Bataan, the United States Navy hospital ship, the USS Comfort, and 
        several Disaster Assistant Response Teams, to aid in relief efforts;
Whereas the international community, which has generously provided security, 
        development, and humanitarian assistance to Haiti, has suffered a 
        substantial blow during the earthquake with the collapse of the 
        headquarters of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti with 
        approximately 150 staff members inside, including the head of the 
        mission, Hedi Annabi, representing the largest single loss of life in 
        United Nations history; and
Whereas, despite the aforementioned losses, the United Nations continues to 
        coordinate efforts on the ground in Haiti, and the United Nations 
        Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has pledged that ``the community of 
        nations will unite in its resolve and help Haiti to overcome this latest 
        trauma and begin the work of social and economic reconstruction that 
        will carry this proud nation forward.''.
Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) expresses profound sympathy to, and unwavering support 
        for, the people of Haiti, who have suffered over many years and 
        face catastrophic conditions in the aftermath of the January 
        12, 2010 earthquake, and sympathy to the members of the 
        international community in Haiti, including the staff of the 
        United States Embassy in Port-au-Prince;
            (2) applauds the rapid and concerted mobilization by 
        President Obama to provide immediate emergency humanitarian 
        assistance to Haiti, and the leadership of Secretary of State 
        Clinton, USAID Administrator Shah, and General Fraser of the 
        United States Southern Command in marshaling United States 
        Government resources and personnel to address both the short- 
        and long-term crises in Haiti;
            (3) urges that all appropriate efforts be made to secure 
        the safety of Haitian orphans;
            (4) urges that all appropriate efforts be made to sustain 
        assistance to Haiti beyond the immediate humanitarian crisis to 
        help the Haitian people with appropriate humanitarian, 
        developmental, and infrastructure assistance needed to overcome 
        the effects of past disasters and the earthquake, and to secure 
        a more stable and sustainable future;
            (5) expresses appreciation for the international 
        community's ongoing and renewed commitment to Haiti's security 
        and recovery;
            (6) acknowledges the profound sympathy of the people of the 
        United States for the families and colleagues of United Nations 
        officials who lost their lives and the continued support for 
        the peacekeepers who are working around the clock to provide 
        critical humanitarian support for all those affected by the 
        earthquake;
            (7) urges all nations to commit to assisting the people of 
        Haiti with their long-term needs; and
            (8) expresses support for the United States Embassy team in 
        Port-au-Prince, members of the United States Coast Guard, 
        United States Armed Forces, and other United States Government 
        agencies who are valiantly rescuing thousands of United States 
        citizens and Haitians under extremely adverse conditions.
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